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In anticipation of Techonomy 2011 in Tucson (Nov. 13-15), we’ve been asking participants to share their perspectives on the themes and ideas we’ll be exploring at the conference. Below, thought leaders and innovators from a range of institutions hone in on what they believe to be the most transformative new technology, good or bad. Their responses range from the inevitable (mobile and social tools) to the obscure (light field photography) to the disconcerting (synthetic biology).

Miles Beckett, CEO and Co-founder, EQAL: The iPhone. It disrupted the mobile phone industry by moving control of the "deck" out of the hands of the operators, created a mobile app economy, and defined the standard of what features a mobile computer should have.

Angel Cabrera, President, Thunderbird School of Global Management: The proliferation of social media and learning technologies is lowering barriers to entry and increasing access to content creation and education.

Tyler Cowen, Professor of Economics, George Mason University: Artificial intelligence is already taking off, albeit with some delays and bumps.

Esther Dyson, Chairman, EDventure: The Internet (including access to it via mobile phones), because it empowers individuals vis a vis institutions, whether good or bad. If you believe people are fundamentally good, then you must think the Internet is good, overall.

Ping Fu, President and CEO, Geomagic Inc.: 3D Printing.

Yogesh Gupta, President and CEO, FatWire Software: The entire field of bioengineering will dramatically transform medicine over the next twenty-five years. Everything from diagnosis to management and cure of diseases and ailments will be different. People in the second half of the 21st century will consider 20th century medicine as the dark ages.

Darell Hammond, CEO and Founder, KaBOOM!: Mobile and social devices and tools.

Andrew Hessel, Co-Chair, Bioinformatics and Biotechnology, Singularity University: Synthetic biology. The ability to write DNA code allows any living thing to be programmed—from viruses to humans. This promises to transform the world, create new species, and even give rise to new human species. Provided we don't all die.

Greg Lucier, Chairman and CEO, Life Technologies: Semi-conductor DNA sequencing for the greatest good: the confluence of biology and technology, which has the power to transform our world. The ability to read and write DNA quickly and affordably means we can solve problems we all care about¾healing and feeding our people and creating new energy sources.

Brin McCagg, President and COO, OneWire: In a few short years, the smart phone has fundamentally transformed the way we communicate, work, and shop, and it is even changing the way we use our brains by giving us access to instant information anywhere at any time.

Andrew Rosen, Chairman and CEO, Kaplan Inc.: The Cloud. The ability to access all your information—and everyone else’s—from anywhere will transform our lives in a way comparable to the way the Internet itself has.